


A Day of Peace

by Loxare



Series: Days and Nights [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Batfam Content War 2017, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-12-25 13:33:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12036942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loxare/pseuds/Loxare
Summary: Damian takes Titus on a walk. They encounter Jason on a hill.





	A Day of Peace

“Heel Titus.”

At the command, Titus let his butterfly prey live another day and headed back to Damian. Damian smiled, patting his dog's head in reward. Titus didn't have a leash. He hadn't needed one since his first week at the Manor. But affection was better than any leash, and much preferred by both boy and dog. Perhaps when they got back to the Manor, Damian could teach Titus how to bring him a specific paintbrush. But later. For now, he was looking for a good place to set up his easel.

Wait. Was that Todd?

While Todd was getting along better with the family, he hadn't been given permission to wander the grounds. Not unsupervised at any rate. Father would have told Damian if he had. Perhaps he thought that simply because he had been allowed in the Cave, he was allowed to effectuate any act he pleased.

Then again, he hadn't been explicitly banned from being on Manor grounds either. Damian didn't have a good case to throw him out.

Simple then. Damian would have to follow him, catch him in whichever act of villainy he was planning, then remove him from the premises.

Todd started on the driveway, but took a turn into the woods before reaching the house. So he wasn't here for a social visit, and since he was headed in the wrong direction for the Cave, it wasn't work either. Even more reason to follow, for what other purpose could Todd have here? Bomb planting? Setting up surveillance? Lying in wait for Drake to wander past and murder him? Although... that last one might not be so bad.

Using all his League training, as well as what Father had taught him, Damian slipped after Todd, his presence a mere whisper, drowned out by the light breeze ruffling the leaves. His art bag was a negligible hindrance. Nothing inside of it rattled, Damian had made sure of that. Each brush was placed carefully in a case, made specifically for his needs, to protect the bristles. Each paint pot wrapped in cotton to prevent them from crashing into each other and breaking. Even the easel was strapped together too tightly to allow movement.

The only problem was Titus.

For whatever reason, Titus liked Todd. Perhaps it was because Todd always pet his head when he came over, or slipped him small, cooked pieces of meat when Damian wasn't looking. Either way, Titus perked up his ears, started wagging his tail, and made to run to the renegade Robin. “Titus,” Damian hissed, “heel.”

The dog stopped in his tracks. His ears and tail drooped, but he returned. The pat Damian gave him perked him up a bit, but clearly, Titus wanted to go see his friend.

Damian rolled his eyes and continued on.

Eventually, Todd stopped at the top of a small hill. Damian sat in the treeline, watching as Todd sat down, leaned up against a tree, and pulled a book from his jacket. “You know,” Todd called as he opened to the latter half of the novel, “you could always join me instead of skulking in the shadows like that.”

He was indeed shocked that Todd had noticed him. But perhaps, he shouldn't be. While Todd hadn't had the education Damian had and would always been inferior, he _had_ trained with the League. And spotting a follower was child's play.

So Damian pulled himself out of the trees and sauntered up to Todd. Then froze.

The hill Todd had sat on was half covered in trees, with the other half being rocky clearing. The rocks themselves were marvelous, browns and greys and light pinks swirling in wonderful patterns. Beyond them was beauty. That really was the only term for it. Trees stretched for miles and miles, the hill just tall enough to see over them. In the distance, he could see the Manor roof, and beyond that, the ocean. The sun was nearing the horizon, casting an orange tinge on the blue waters.

Wordlessly, without looking away, Damian unpacked his easel. He didn't notice as Todd put down his book and slipped Titus a scrap of chicken. Then he unwrapped a few of the paint pots, and put them within Damian's reach. Once the last pot was lined up and Damian's brush was raised, he went back to his book.

An hour later, he wiped the last of the paint off of his brush. The sun was gone and while his painting wasn't done yet, he could always come back tomorrow. “Todd...” He wasn't even sure what he wanted to say.

But Todd filled in the blanks. “I found this place a year before I died. Actually broke my ankle trying to climb this tree.” He marked his place with a pressed leaf. “It turned into my second favourite reading spot. A place I could go to when Bruce was being annoying and just relax.”

“Only your second favourite? Why come here when you could go there?” Not that Damian was ungrateful for being shown this spot. He was simply curious.

Todd just grimaced. “It's the second floor of the Manor library. And last time I was there, Bruce decided to take up reading case files on the couch next to mine. And the time before that. And the time before that. I don't particularly like being _surveilled_ when I'm reading.”

Damian nodded. He could understand the feeling. He preferred being alone when he painted. “I wish to stake my own claim to this spot. The conditions here are perfect for painting.” And they were. A light breeze ruffled the grass. If he got too cold, a step forward put him into the sun. Similarly, a step back took him to shade if he grew overly warm.

“Sure, I can share. As long as you keep to your thing, you can come up any time.”

“And likewise Todd, I will tolerate your presence if and only if you do not distract me.”

Todd simply snorted at that. “Ha. Nice try kid. But this was my hill first. Now come on. We should get back before true dark sets in. The way is a bit tricky when you can't see where you're going.”

 


End file.
